Thursday, 16 October 2008

Meritocracy

English Assignment. Irien Santoso.

Proved by the creation of one of the Pancasila principles, “Social justice for the entire people of Indonesia”, it could be assumed that meritocracy is initially an important belief or system held by Indonesians and its government. Unfortunately, today’s display of meritocracy is questionable with the high rate of corruption, collusion and nepotism contaminating the country’s government system. Due to these deceitful and unfair behaviours, appointments or credits are often given only to individuals who are considered as superior. The situation is aggravated by the existing cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious barrier shared among different groups in Indonesia which further make meritocratic system seems unfeasible to be applied. Another factor that threats meritocracy in the country is also the wide economic gap within the society which affects opportunity and level of education possessed by different groups in the country to advance. Poverty in Indonesia, worsened by the corrupt government, has made the less fortunate lost their opportunities to better living conditions due to the interrupted assistance services such as subsidies, health benefits or free education. With the numerous issues haunting the country and a dishonest government system ineffectively handling them, it is firmly believed that meritocracy is a myth in Indonesia.